Nearly 90 Percent of Americans Bid Farewell to Arctic Winter and Plan to Travel This Summer, According to Orbitz.com Survey

(May 05, 2014)

CHICAGO, May 5, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An overwhelming 88 percent of Americans plan to take a summer vacation this year, up 11 percent year-over-year, with more than half of travelers using reward points to book hotel and airfare, according to new survey data released by Orbitz.com.1 The overhang from the brutal winter will see travelers seeking solace in warm temperatures regardless of increased travel costs – travelers can expect to pay more for air travel and hotel prices alike this summer. To help offset costs, Americans are keeping summer travel almost exclusively domestic this year. Cancun, Mexico is the only international destination and leads the top ten air travel list, followed by Las Vegas, Orlando, Seattle and Los Angeles.

On average, airfares are up 6 percent and hotels prices are up 12 percent in top destinations. While costs and the number of travelers are up over the previous summer, consumers are also willing to spend more on their trip this summer. Over half of travelers (51 percent) surveyed said they would spend $2,000 or more for their summer vacation versus 44 percent in 2013. Travelers on a budget said they would cash-in rewards points or buy food and eat some meals in their room instead of dining out to save money this summer.

"Staycations are a thing of the past. This year we're seeing more Americans traveling and, in fact, taking advantage of smart tactics to save costs and upgrade vacations," said Jeanenne Tornatore, senior editor of Orbitz.com. "The majority of consumers said that they would redeem credit card points on their summer vacations so if they have been using a card with good travel rewards, it could be a big help in offsetting summer vacation costs. For example, the average consumer spends $2,780 on travel and $10,000 on non-travel credit card purchases each year. That consumer could earn $423 in rewards towards a hotel stay on Orbitz.com if they used the Orbitz Rewards Visa Card, and that could translate into 2 or 3 free hotel room nights."

Orlando is bumped from the top spot by Cancun, perhaps due to rising prices in one of America's favorite family destinations – airfares are up 12 percent while hotels rose 8 percent.

Americans are seeking urban getaways this summer, with cities accounting for half of the destinations in this year's list.

While hotel prices are up, travelers can still find hotel rooms under $200 in half of the top 10 destinations.

Orbitz Insider Index: 2014 Top 10 Summer Destinations2

Rank

Destination

Avg. Airfare 2014

Avg. Airfare 2013

YOY Change

Hotel Avg. Daily Rate 2014

Hotel Avg. Daily Rate 2013

YOY Change

1

Cancun

$530

$535

-1%

$242

$235

+3%

2

Las Vegas

$362

$335

+8%

$117

$106

+10%

3

Orlando

$330

$294

+12%

$119

$111

+7%

4

Seattle

$381

$399

-5%

$190

$180

+6%

5

Los Angeles

$371

$355

+5%

$175

$139

+26%

6

San Francisco

$387

$372

+4%

$225

$205

+10%

7

Denver

$302

$292

+3%

$156

$127

+23%

8

New York

$345

$292

+18%

$303

$275

+10%

9

Boston

$328

$318

+3%

$263

$247

+6%

10

Honolulu

$818

$729

+12%

$248

$215

+15%

Knowing when to travel can also be a key differentiator when it comes to savings and the overall enjoyment of a vacation. According to the Orbitz.com summer survey, the majority of travelers prefer to take summer vacations in June and July (71 percent). For those that can hold out just a bit longer, Orbitz editors suggest traveling in August when there may be additional savings and far less crowds compared to the earlier summer months.

Check out Orbitz.com's list of the busiest summer travel days to find out when airports and hotels will experience the most crowds. A couple of insights to keep in mind when booking summer vacations:

Travelers can expect the biggest crowds of the summer on the Friday before Memorial Day (May 23).

The July Fourth holiday falls on a Friday this year. Nearly 60 percent of travelers are taking an additional vacation day to take advantage of the long weekend and will be leaving on Thursday, July 3 – also one of the top 10 busiest travel days this summer.

The busiest travel days for summer are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Travelers should consider vacations on Sunday through Wednesday for lower volume days which could also result in less cost.

Orbitz.com Top 10 Busiest Days for Summer Travel3

1

Friday, May 23 (Memorial Day weekend)

2

Saturday, May 24 (Memorial Day weekend)

3

Thursday, May 29

4

Friday, May 30

5

Thursday, June 5

6

Friday, June 6

7

Saturday, May 28

8

Thursday, June 19

9

Thursday, June 12

10

Thursday, July 3 (July Fourth weekend)

For more information on great destinations for summer travel, please visit the Orbitz blog, or check out the Orbitz Labs tool for helpful tools and pricing heat maps that show when and where to get the best deals.

1The Orbitz.com summer survey was fielded by Orbitz from April 14-18, 2014 via insightexpress. 751 U.S. adults aged 18 and older who had traveled within the past 12 months were surveyed.

2The Orbitz Insider Index 2014 Top 10 Summer Destinations were ranked based on all air bookings (standalone air and air booked as part of a package) made on Orbitz.com for travel between May 23 and Sept. 1, 2014. The year-over-year (YOY) percent change in average airfare and daily hotel rate was calculated based on the difference in average air and hotel pricing in each destination in 2014 vs. 2013 for travel between May 23 and Sept. 1, 2014 vs. May 24 and Sept. 2, 2013.

3The Orbitz.com Top 10 Busiest Days for Summer Travel were ranked based on the number of air bookings (standalone air and air booked as part of a package) made on Orbitz.com for travel between May 23 and Sept. 1, 2014.

About Orbitz.com

Orbitz.com is a leading travel website that enables consumers to search for and book a broad range of hotels, flights, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages and destination activities. Since launching in June 2001, Orbitz.com has become one of the world's largest online travel sites. Orbitz.com now offers the groundbreaking Orbitz Rewards loyalty program—the only program where customers can earn rewards immediately on flights, hotels and packages, and redeem instantly on tens of thousands of hotels worldwide. Use the Orbitz Rewards Visa® Card to earn even more rewards. Orbitz.com is the #1 way to book travel on mobile devices, be it using our apps (get them at www.orbitz.com/mobile) or our smartphone-optimized website (m.orbitz.com), both of which are tailored for smartphones and tablets. The Orbitz app for iPhone is one of only 48 apps out of nearly 900,000 available apps chosen by Apple to be inducted into its App Store Hall of Fame. Orbitz also ranks #1 in Online Travel Website Customer Satisfaction in the 2014 American Customer Satisfaction Index. Orbitz members get exclusive access to Insider Steals hotel deals, promotions and other saving opportunities. Follow Orbitz on Facebook, Twitter and through the Orbitz Travel Blog. Orbitz.com is operated by Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE:OWW).

AboutOrbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE:OWW) is a leading global online travel company using technology to transform the way consumers around the world plan and purchase travel. Orbitz Worldwide operates the consumer travel planning sites Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), ebookers (www.ebookers.com), HotelClub (www.hotelclub.com) and CheapTickets (www.cheaptickets.com). Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Partner Network (www.orbitz.com/OPN) delivers private label travel technology solutions to a broad range of partners including some of the world`s largest airlines and travel agencies, and Orbitz for Business (www.orbitzforbusiness.com) delivers managed travel solutions for companies of all sizes. Orbitz Worldwide makes investor relations information available at investors.orbitz.com.